IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2007 - 12

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heat, with a light drizzle and without a
steady work surface while in the field in
Hong Kong. It certainly wasn't your typical work environment!
Q: What advice would you give to others
who want to become imagineers?
Kistler: It wasn't until I was at my job
for a while that I discovered the large
number of individuals who would love to
work at Imagineering. With so much
supply and a low demand for imagineers,
it isn't that easy to get a position here.
For an entry-level engineer I would recommend applying for an internship with
our division. Internships give us an
opportunity to assess the individual and
give them a chance to see what we are
really all about. Most of our young engineering imagineers all came through
the internship program.

Under the Sea
Kristin Jones, an electronics engineer at
Walt Disney Imagineering, is like most
people in that she became acquainted
with Disney through the theme parks but
it was a college design competition that
ultimately landed her at the company.
Q: Tell us about yourself.
Jones: I grew up near Chicago and
earned a bachelor's degree in electrical
engineering in 2005 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
After graduation I packed up, moved
out to Glendale, California, and have
been an electronics engineer with Walt

Page 12

Disney Imagineering ever since. I love
Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza, dabbling
in artistic hobbies like drawing and
painting, and almost always have a laptop open at home so I can read the latest technology news.

an engineer I enjoy the opportunity to
work through the entire design process
from conceptualization through production, installation, and eventually test and
adjust. Test and adjust is the fun part,
where the designs leap off the paper and
become a real working system.
On a typical installation, I
Q: What made you decide to
can usually be found with
become an imagineer?
"I enjoy
laptop in hand, hidden
Jones: I went on
being a part of
somewhere in the
family vacations to
the team that gives attraction's scenery
Walt Disney World as
trying to make the big
a kid and thought that
people wonderful
effect
go "kaboom!"
building Disney rides
and memorable
I recently finished
had to be a pretty cool
experiences."
working on the Finding
job. In college I found
out about Walt Disney
Nemo submarine voyage at
Imagineering's ImagiNations
Disneyland. Shortly after the
Design Competition. The competiattraction opened to the public, I rode
tion invites people from universities
with a group of guests that erupted into
and organizations with a passion for
cheers and applause when the sub
integrating creativity and technology to
returned to the dock. I enjoy being a part
present projects to imagineers. I subof the team that gives people wonderful
mitted my entry for a Finding Nemoand memorable experiences.
themed underwater safari and was
Q: What do you like best about your job?
invited to present my concept as a finalWhat do you like least or what is most
ist. With a lot of drawing, modeling
challenging?
clay, and a little luck, I ended up with a
Jones: I feel very lucky to have my
first-place trophy and an internship at
dream job. Perhaps the most exciting
Walt Disney Imagineering.
and challenging aspect of the job is trying to figure out how to bring some of
Q: What is a typical day for you at work?
the more radical and creative ideas into
Jones: I design and implement show
reality. It's a lot of fun to take an idea for
control systems for Disney attractions.
an effect and go to the drawing board to
The show control system ties together all
figure out just how the thing is going to
of the animated figures, special effects,
work. Challenges can occur when relatand audio/video that combine to tell a
ing the limitations of a system to an art
seamless story through Disney magic. As
director, for example, who wants the jellyfish to go up and down faster than it
can currently go.

Disneyland is all about
memorable experiences, and
Kristin Jones has contributed
to a number of them, including
the Finding Nemo submarine
voyage.

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

WINTER 2007/2008

Q: What advice would you give to others
who want to become imagineers?
Jones: Find something you are passionate about and really immerse yourself in it. With a bit of determination you
can make your dreams into reality. In
college, broaden your focus by taking
classes outside of your major and take on
leadership roles in student organizations.
Check out the Walt Disney Imagineering
ImagiNations Design Competition and
apply for internship opportunities.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2007